Appalachian Trail Conservancy - Join the Journey

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NPS Centennial Challenge Grant Funds A.T. MEGA-Transect

Harpers Ferry, W.Va.- The Centennial Challenge matching grant from the National Park Service (NPS) to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), announced today, provides the funding needed for ATC, the NPS and other partners to enlarge the A.T. MEGA-Transect program. The program is a long-term collaborative project to comprehensively monitor changes in the mountain and valley environments through which the famed, 2,176-mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) meanders.

The Trail Conservancy’s grant, matched by funds from other sources, will be used to:

develop leadership for natural-resource programs,
to engage new and traditional scientific and trails-group partners to establish long-term monitoring of key environmental indicators, or “vital signs,” within the A.T. corridor lands.

Much of this work will be coordinated with citizen scientists, building on the Trail Conservancy’s 83-year legacy of volunteer involvement in the construction and maintenance of the Trail. New activities to monitor air quality and invasive species also will be developed over the next year.

The National Park Centennial Initiative is a 10-year program to reinvigorate America’s national parks and prepare them for a second century. The initiative includes a focus on increased funding for park operations plus a President’s Challenge: up to $100 million a year in federal funds to match $100 million a year in philanthropic donations to the National Park Service. Today’s grants for 110 projects involve 76 units of the park system, of which the Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a part.

Read more about the MEGA-Transect project.

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